Gish, Lillian (1893-1993), was one of the leading stars of silent motion pictures in the United States. Gish’s fragile beauty conveyed a spiritual quality that made her especially effective as an innocent heroine. She gained her greatest fame in films directed by D. W. Griffith. Gish starred in Griffith’s American Civil War epic The Birth of a Nation (1915). Her other films for Griffith included Intolerance (1916), Broken Blossoms (1919), Way Down East (1920), and Orphans of the Storm (1922). She also appeared in a few sound films, notably Night of the Hunter (1955) and The Whales of August (1987).
Gish was born on Oct. 14, 1893, in Springfield, Ohio. She began acting on the stage at age 6 and made her film debut in 1912. Gish wrote an autobiography, The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me (1969). During the 1970’s and 1980’s, she appeared in many TV dramas. She died on Feb. 27, 1993. Her sister, Dorothy, was also a star of silent films.
